Issue

Equitable distribution—classification of land—pretrial stipulation—no ruling on motion to set aside—invited error

Summary

The decision of the Court of Appeals upholding a trial court's equitable distribution (ED) order, in which the trial court classified a tract of land as defendant's separate property even though the parties had filed a pretrial stipulation classifying the tract as marital property, was modified and affirmed. Although plaintiff argued that the stipulations remained binding on the parties because the trial court never ruled on defendant's motion to set them aside, any error by the trial court in failing to rule on the motion constituted invited error and could not serve as the basis for a new ED hearing because plaintiff's attorney expressly invited the trial court to proceed with the ED hearing even though no direct proceeding had been held on defendant's motion to set aside the stipulations.

Summary from the North Carolina Reports digest (official subject index). Read the opinion →